There are various uses for elongated flexible assemblies such as for elevator load bearing members or roping arrangements, drive belts for machines such as a passenger conveyor and handrails for passenger conveyors, for example. Such assemblies may be designed with a plurality of cords covered by a polyurethane jacket. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,295,799 and 6,739,433 show belts for use in suspending an elevator car and counterweight within an elevator system. An example passenger conveyor handrail construction is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,982,829. An example passenger conveyor drive belt is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,540,060.
With such assemblies, the polymer jacket may melt in extremely high temperature conditions such as when there is a fire in the vicinity of the assembly. Melting jacket material may drip onto other system components or structures in an undesirable manner. For example, molten jacket material of an elevator load bearing member may drip onto the top of the elevator car or onto the floor surface of an elevator pit. In the case of a passenger conveyor, the handrail may drop onto the balustrade or other components associated with the truss of the conveyor. Similarly, a drive belt in a passenger conveyor may melt and drip onto the drive components.
It would be useful to be able to minimize or avoid such dripping or flowing of the material of a polymer jacket in the event of high temperature conditions such as during a fire.